Do you sign with your LO?

Who does sign language with their LO's? If you do, does your LO talk. I sign with my LO and I love it because we communicate so well through sign. And I read so many good things about sign language, and how most babies who sign actually have more spoken vocab then a baby who doesn't sign (on average of course). However, my son is late in talking. Now I mainly started signing because he was late talking. So I have two schools of thought here, and I have no idea on which one is right. And I don't think I'll ever know. But part of me wonders if he's not talking because he can sign, so he doesn't see the need. And another part of me wonders if he's just not ready to talk and signing is actually helping him communicate with me. Like if he wasn't signing, he still wouldn't be talking, but he'd also be crazy frustrated because he couldn't tell me what he wanted. I just don't know, which one it is. I actually started signing with him at 5 months, but then I dropped it at a year. He knew no signs yet and I was frustrated and returning to work. Then at 17 months I picked it up again when he wasn't talking. I love it, but I'm worried that it's stopping him from talking, even though the evidence/research on baby signing says the opposite.

So does anyone have any signing stories to share with me? Does anyone else sign with their LO's, and how much are they talking? I'd love to know.

Thanks,

Nicole

Who does sign language with their LO's? If you do, does your LO talk. I sign with my LO and I love it because we communicate so well through sign. And I read so many good things about sign language, and how most babies who sign actually have more spoken vocab then a baby who doesn't sign (on average of course). However, my son is late in talking. Now I mainly started signing because he was late talking. So I have two schools of thought here, and I have no idea on which one is right. And I don't think I'll ever know. But part of me wonders if he's not talking because he can sign, so he doesn't see the need. And another part of me wonders if he's just not ready to talk and signing is actually helping him communicate with me. Like if he wasn't signing, he still wouldn't be talking, but he'd also be crazy frustrated because he couldn't tell me what he wanted. I just don't know, which one it is. I actually started signing with him at 5 months, but then I dropped it at a year. He knew no signs yet and I was frustrated and returning to work. Then at 17 months I picked it up again when he wasn't talking. I love it, but I'm worried that it's stopping him from talking, even though the evidence/research on baby signing says the opposite.

So does anyone have any signing stories to share with me? Does anyone else sign with their LO's, and how much are they talking? I'd love to know.

I don't sign with either of my kids but have heard nothing but good things. I talked with a therapist who used to come to the daycare I worked at to work with a boy in my class. He said that as long as you talk when you sign it is promoting talking and communication. I also read that later too. It's suppose to be such a great thing. I never had a problem communicating with my kids for some reason. We have always been able to have conversations with gestures and babble. Don't know. I asked the dr at one of our appointments w/ Abrianna because I was worried that me just pretending she could talk was hindering her progress but the dr said it was the way to go. That the more you talk with them, the more you communicate with them the more the learn.

I don't know if any of that really helps because I bet you already knew all that. But I really think it is a great thing and think it is great that you can talk with the lo even though he's not ready to verbally. Keep it up! Pretty soon you'll wish he came with a mute button!

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I don't sign with either of my kids but have heard nothing but good things. I talked with a therapist who used to come to the daycare I worked at to work with a boy in my class. He said that as long as you talk when you sign it is promoting talking and communication. I also read that later too. It's suppose to be such a great thing. I never had a problem communicating with my kids for some reason. We have always been able to have conversations with gestures and babble. Don't know. I asked the dr at one of our appointments w/ Abrianna because I was worried that me just pretending she could talk was hindering her progress but the dr said it was the way to go. That the more you talk with them, the more you communicate with them the more the learn.

I don't know if any of that really helps because I bet you already knew all that. But I really think it is a great thing and think it is great that you can talk with the lo even though he's not ready to verbally. Keep it up! Pretty soon you'll wish he came with a mute button!

Definitely stick with the signing! If he's able to communicate through sign, he is comprehending things which is the first step. Do you say the words every time you sign? Make sure you are saying the word along with the sign when you are talking to him so that he'll catch on and try to mimick you. Another thing I forgot to mention in my other post to you is sound effects. Play cars with him and verbally CRASH, ZOOM!, VROOM!, and BEEP with him. The more verbal you are, the more verbal he'll try to be. Gavin LOVES funny noises like the high pitched squeals and squeaks we make when his cars slam on the brakes lol

Definitely stick with the signing! If he's able to communicate through sign, he is comprehending things which is the first step. Do you say the words every time you sign? Make sure you are saying the word along with the sign when you are talking to him so that he'll catch on and try to mimick you. Another thing I forgot to mention in my other post to you is sound effects. Play cars with him and verbally CRASH, ZOOM!, VROOM!, and BEEP with him. The more verbal you are, the more verbal he'll try to be. Gavin LOVES funny noises like the high pitched squeals and squeaks we make when his cars slam on the brakes lol

Thanks everyone. Ya, I always say the word. Sometimes I think the problem is that I talk too much. I have to slow it down. But we really do have conversations. Through talking and signing, but I do all the talking..lol

Thanks everyone. Ya, I always say the word. Sometimes I think the problem is that I talk too much. I have to slow it down. But we really do have conversations. Through talking and signing, but I do all the talking..lol

I sign with Scott. He uses signs to communicate but also is talking as well. He does not always use the right sign. Like currently he is using more every time he wants something. I understand that he wants something. Figuring out what it is is another story. He also tends to change the signs to his own liking so they are a bit hard for the common person to recognize. He seems to be learning new words every day as well so the signing is not slowing him down but it does help us a lot. Sometimes he signs and uses the word to go with it. Such as help. He did that yesterday. Keep up the signing and he will have a way to communicate until he catches up with his spoken language. When the speech therapist came to teach the little boy I watched she started by teaching the kids to sign along with other stuff. So even the professionals use sign language. :)

Marty

I sign with Scott. He uses signs to communicate but also is talking as well. He does not always use the right sign. Like currently he is using more every time he wants something. I understand that he wants something. Figuring out what it is is another story. He also tends to change the signs to his own liking so they are a bit hard for the common person to recognize. He seems to be learning new words every day as well so the signing is not slowing him down but it does help us a lot. Sometimes he signs and uses the word to go with it. Such as help. He did that yesterday. Keep up the signing and he will have a way to communicate until he catches up with his spoken language. When the speech therapist came to teach the little boy I watched she started by teaching the kids to sign along with other stuff. So even the professionals use sign language. :)

We have been signing since six months of age. I think at last count my son can do approx. 50 signs. It has been amazing! My mother, who is a trained psychologist, was not at all supportive of doing signing because she said it would stunt his language development however at 18 months of age he has far more spoken words than signs and is stringing two and three words together so I don't think there are any negative consquences. We noticed when he started talking that he was imitating us and saying the sign and doing it at the same time. It is so sweet to see them sign and say please or thank you. It melts your heart.

Hang in there. I am sure you are doing all the right things. If he is signing, he is able to communicate and maybe just at this point does not see any benefit to making sounds with his mouth.

Best Wishes to you and your family.

Hi,

We have been signing since six months of age. I think at last count my son can do approx. 50 signs. It has been amazing! My mother, who is a trained psychologist, was not at all supportive of doing signing because she said it would stunt his language development however at 18 months of age he has far more spoken words than signs and is stringing two and three words together so I don't think there are any negative consquences. We noticed when he started talking that he was imitating us and saying the sign and doing it at the same time. It is so sweet to see them sign and say please or thank you. It melts your heart.

Hang in there. I am sure you are doing all the right things. If he is signing, he is able to communicate and maybe just at this point does not see any benefit to making sounds with his mouth.

so wonderful to hear. I guess I knew that it was the right thing to be doing with him, but you get so much flack from other people who don't know about sign language. And when your child is not talking, they all feel like signing is the culprit. It's such a new thing that many people don't understand it. But it is so nice to hear that it's working for you. I can't wait to here my little man's voice saying real words and not jibbrish..lol. My son also signs "more" when he wants things. Funny, eh. And since a few of the signs are by the mouth region he seems to sign the same thing for different signs. Like he signs a wave under the nose for flower, stinky, home and drink. I'm trying to get him to do flower up on the nose, and home on the cheek. But it's cute. Thanks for your response.

Nicole

so wonderful to hear. I guess I knew that it was the right thing to be doing with him, but you get so much flack from other people who don't know about sign language. And when your child is not talking, they all feel like signing is the culprit. It's such a new thing that many people don't understand it. But it is so nice to hear that it's working for you. I can't wait to here my little man's voice saying real words and not jibbrish..lol. My son also signs "more" when he wants things. Funny, eh. And since a few of the signs are by the mouth region he seems to sign the same thing for different signs. Like he signs a wave under the nose for flower, stinky, home and drink. I'm trying to get him to do flower up on the nose, and home on the cheek. But it's cute. Thanks for your response.

lol Gavin does the same thing and changes the signs up to fit his style. "Please" looks like he's wiping his hand on his shirt and "stop" looks like he's clapping his hands. Because of his dyspraxia, he mixes the words up as well so when he says "pot" and claps his hands, we know it's stop but other people dont lol

lol Gavin does the same thing and changes the signs up to fit his style. "Please" looks like he's wiping his hand on his shirt and "stop" looks like he's clapping his hands. Because of his dyspraxia, he mixes the words up as well so when he says "pot" and claps his hands, we know it's stop but other people dont lol

Hi mama! We sign and have all along, but only basic things like milk, bath, eat, more, finished, and thank you that I can think of. My girls have been talking now for quite some time but they still sign every single day, even as they say the words. The only one they no longer use is bath and I have no idea why they dropped just that one *shrugs* The only thing I can say is that although the signing was working beautifully, I encouraged them heavily to "use your words" despite being able to understand what they were meaning or wanting. I began to also emphasize my WORDS more than the signs when they began trying to speak. Like I would just say the word, "do you want milk?" and if I didn't see an immediate response of understanding I would repeat "do you want milk?" with words and the sign. I really hope I'm making sense. I have NO idea if that is what "made" them talk or not, but that is what we've done and they are carrying on small conversations with me and their words are clear enough that complete strangers understand them.

Hi mama! We sign and have all along, but only basic things like milk, bath, eat, more, finished, and thank you that I can think of. My girls have been talking now for quite some time but they still sign every single day, even as they say the words. The only one they no longer use is bath and I have no idea why they dropped just that one *shrugs* The only thing I can say is that although the signing was working beautifully, I encouraged them heavily to "use your words" despite being able to understand what they were meaning or wanting. I began to also emphasize my WORDS more than the signs when they began trying to speak. Like I would just say the word, "do you want milk?" and if I didn't see an immediate response of understanding I would repeat "do you want milk?" with words and the sign. I really hope I'm making sense. I have NO idea if that is what "made" them talk or not, but that is what we've done and they are carrying on small conversations with me and their words are clear enough that complete strangers understand them.

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